Employee (dis)engagement is very much a hot topic in the business news. A recent international study by the Gallup organisation showed that in 2011 - 2012, employee engagement had reached an all time low.

It seems obvious (to us at least) that if an employee does not understand how their business works (including how it achieves its results) and their role in the achievement of the business results, they will be less likely to engage with that role.

We recall a workshop in the early 2000s, for a particular client which included participants from the usual levels and roles, but with one exception: they sent along the guy in charge of the corporate mail room - let's call him John. It was later into the workshop where they were considering their role in the business when John blurted out, "I know how we can save about $70k on mail charges per year!" His assertion proved to be true and was implemented to some considerable fanfare. When asked later why he hadn't brought this up before, John replied: "I wasn't sure that it was my role to do so." John was busy, efficient and effective at getting the mail in and out, butJohn wasn't engaged in the business. How many 'Johns' do you have in your business?

A better question might be: It's not so much whether you can afford to develop the business smarts of your people. It's whether you can afford not to, when at the very least your competitors are almost certainly doing just that.

And we haven't yet met an industry where the key decision makers did not need to be financially literate.

We have worked with the smallest micro-businesses in developing economies to the executive teams of the largest multi-nationals, with law makers and financial regulators, with trade unions and entrepreneurs, with accountants (yes - them too!), students and teachers. We can even accredit your own in-house trainers to use the Color Accounting system.

The beauty of the Color Accounting system is its flexibility in adapting to its audience and fulfilling their fundamental need for financial literacy. Set yourself free.